I'll admit this to you guys....here and now. I get excited about glass petri dishes. If I find some at a flea market, a buddy whose dad works at a college or lab sends me some....heck, even eBay......I LOVE to find these.

Part of the reason may be that they are "green"....more eco friendly than plastic but really, if I had to admit it, there is something cool about the heaviness. The weight. Glass just rocks.

Does anyone else go to the bargain stores, like T.J Maxx - where they get shipments of extras and sometimes "exotic" stuff that other stores don't carry? I can find the most awesome low profile heavy glass ashtrays at those stores. The really don't even look like ashtrays and when they go under a cocohut....they are perfect.

Another of my "guilty little places" for stuff is the Restaurant store. You know, the big warehouse store that stocks tons of different items to all the restaurants in your city. Go there and walk the aisles sometime and then tell me it's not like Toys-R-us for froggers. GLASS condiment cups -4 sizes, shot glasses....on and on.

Only thing about glass...it's a little more $$ but hey......go green.....go glass and re-use.

I also love glass petri dishes, as well as all of my microwave and bake ware is pyrex. I just like the idea you can sterilize it, non porous, won't scratch easily, and doesn't stain. I bought my petri dishes off of amazon if I remember correctly.

Its funny you say that about the Restaurant supply store Phil. Im in one once a week picking up supplies for work And i allways keep an eye out for thing useful that don't necessarily have to be bought in bulk. Good place to get a big box of a 1000 deli cups for fly cultures.

I've always used plastic and would clean/reuse. Only problem is that the plastic dishes are pretty flimsy and I've broke my fair share trying to clean them...I may try to find some glass petri dishes here in the near future.

chris, whatever works best for you. This hobby is all about preferences. We all just opine, kibbitz and discuss, but ultimately you find your particular equilibrium. no worries.

Here's a handy pic for size / oz comparisons

I like to use this size for some tads...some, not all

What I personally, try to do , is raise them all individually in small cups. I feel that is a closer representation of what naturally occurs in the rainforest where there are small water holding areas and not many communal deposits.

Thanks Phil. There are a lot of different ways to do the same thing and some work better than others for sure. The way i do things work for me yet I'm always open for new and better ideas. I don't want to get off the topic of the post but the condiment cups are a good idea. They would take up less space than the mason no doubt. I know the water doesn't have to be super clean but do you find that more maintenance is due because of the small size of the container. I would think that buildup of debris would need to be addressed more often.

My condiment cups are on the way! I use pipets for vacuuming - I picked up 100 for $6 on Amazon and I use them for vacuuming / water changes and dosing MB or mixing blackwater extract (I use a fine time for that - just pull the pipet tip to stretch it then clip to form a finer opening). My kids also break into the supply cubby and steal a few for water fights. Makes for a good 6 cent toy